1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the displaying of an image of a lost person in an emergency situation and, more particularly, to a system for rapidly decoding and displaying an electronically stored image, of a lost person, on a plurality of remotely located display devices.
2. Description of the Background
The risk of having children or disabled adults lost or abducted during a visit to a public or private place is a concern for the host, parents, guardians and other responsible persons. The risk is increased in places where large numbers of persons are moving about freely, such as airports, shopping malls, stadiums and amusement parks. Facilities having activities oriented toward children, such as sports and entertainment complexes pose a particular concern because they operate in large areas with multiple exits. Children can be manipulated or persuaded to make poor decisions which compromise their safety. Experts have reported that children abducted by certain types of perpetrators have a much greater chance of being found alive if they are found within a short period of time. In order to maximize their safety, it is desirable to quickly locate lost children.
The owners and operators of such facilities spend time and effort to provide security in the form of controlled entrances and exits, video monitoring, security employees and other measures. Presumably, the presence of well planned and implemented security measures at a particular facility acts as a deterrent against those persons having criminal intent with regard to the abduction of susceptible persons. It is an advantage to have somewhat conspicuous security measures so that visitors to the premises are aware of precautions being taken. In addition to the security measures which generally relate to monitoring activity on the premises, it is possible for responsible individuals to take steps to reduce the risk of loss or abduction, for a child or disabled person. Identification tags or badges are often attached to the person of the child or disabled person. Depending on the capabilities of the child or disabled person, the responsible person may give particular instructions in the event of an emergency and prepare a plan for a place to meet if persons become accidentally separated. Electronic systems have been developed to assist a responsible person in locating their charge. U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,041, to Friedman, discloses an audible alarm to be worn by a child, which can be activated remotely, by a guardian. Various electronic systems have been developed to rapidly communicate information in other types of emergency situations. U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,412, to Novak, discloses a hospital nurse calling system which logs patient information and automatically detects the presence of a nurse, who has responded to the call. U.S. Pat. No. 5,633,621, to McDonald discloses a system for displaying information describing the location of non-ambulatory persons within a building, when an evacuation is necessary. U.S. Pat. No. 5,686,886, to Stensey, discloses a neighbor alert system whereby a person having difficulty may send a signal indicating their location.
There remains a need for a system which can be controlled and operated by a responsible person to rapidly display notification to security personnel and to bystanders that a child or disabled person has become separated from their guardian or responsible person. Preferably, such a system would be capable of simultaneously displaying notification information near each exit of the facility and at other dispersed locations, such notification including an image of the lost person showing their clothing and their face.